Tennessee said goodbye to a quarterback while Vandy welcomed one onboard. Meanwhile, in College Station, issues run a little deeper than who will be lining up under center. Here's a look at those stories and more in our weekly tour around the SEC:

Sink or swim?

Wonder if Riley Ferguson's decision to transfer will serve as a tie-breaker for Torrance Gibson? In early May the prized dual-threat quarterback prospect out of Florida had Tennessee atop his list of 15 desired destinations to begin his college career next year. That list has been whittled down to seven schools with UT still on top, but accompanied by Auburn.

With now-former fan favorite Ferguson not coming to the rescue as Tennessee's quarterback, many Vols supporters are sure to be clamoring even more vigorously for Gibson to call Knoxville home. After all, those fans distraught by the news of Ferguson's departure need something to cling to other than the life preservers keeping them afloat after jumping into the Tennessee River.

The most popular person on campus is often the guy who has never played a down of college football. For many on Rocky Top that person was Ferguson, who redshirted as a freshman last season and went into the spring seemingly with the fortunes of Tennessee football heaped upon his shoulders. UT fans hoped that he would cut through a cluttered quarterback depth chart and emerge as the unquestioned starter. Not anymore.

Coach Butch Jones was hopeful of seeing some separation at quarterback during the spring, a development that did not occur. The competition will continue to play out come August, but it will be without Ferguson. Instead it will be between a trio of quarterbacks that saw playing time last season and combined for a pass efficiency rating that was less than three points ahead of Army's. That is to say Justin Worley, Joshua Dobbs and Nathan Peterman combined to place 111th nationally.

At least Dobbs and Peterman, who could have been candidates to transfer had Ferguson emerged in 2014, got their feet wet last season. Both will be sophomores and, with Worley heading into his final year of eligibility, the opportunity for Dobbs or Peterman is suddenly greatly enhanced. Even if Gibson comes onboard -- class of 2015 QB/safety Jauan Jennings committed in April -- there is still a season to be played before he arrives and it gets underway in less than three months against visiting Utah State. By that time there had better be some clarity as to the quarterback position or there may be a shortage of said life preservers.

Rivers could be much more than spectator

LSU quarterback Stephen Rivers (17) throws against North Texas during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012, in Baton Rouge, La. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

Vanderbilt returns a pair of quarterbacks who combined for a rating that was even lower than Tennessee's trio recorded. When considering that and the fact that he has two years of eligibility remaining, married graduate student Stephen Rivers likely did not make the move to Nashville from LSU to be some kind of mentor who rarely sees the field.

First-year coach Derek Mason will get a look at six quarterbacks in August. Two of them are incoming freshman and the rest are largely lacking experience. Patton Robinette, who threw 88 passes as a freshman last season (4 TDs, 7 picks), and Josh Grady, who will be a redshirt junior, are the only returning QBs who have thrown passes at Vandy. In Grady's case that means six attempts in 2013.

While it would not surprise if redshirt freshman Johnny McCrary took over the offense, and perhaps much sooner than later, Mason appreciates the three years Rivers had under Les Miles at LSU even if he threw all of two passes in that time. Rivers' experience of being with a top-shelf program and his maturity level, combined with a skillset that might very well be a good fit in offensive coordinator Karl Dorrell's system, could add up to him standing out from the crowd come August. He will certainly get a shot.

Keeping score

Though Rivers remains in the conference he could be one of four quarterbacks to transfer from an SEC school to start for his new team. As for the others, Boston College coach Steve Addazio anointed former Gator Tyler Murphy as the Eagles' starter heading into fall drills. Addazio recruited Murphy when the former was the offensive coordinator under Urban Meyer at Florida.

Matt Joeckel stayed in the Lone Star State and will have a second stint in the Big 12 as he transferred from Texas A&M, which was in the Big 12 his first two seasons, to TCU, where he will have every opportunity to emerge as the No. 1. Jalen Whitlow left Kentucky for Eastern Illinois, where he will be the likely successor to Jimmy Garoppolo. As graduate students, Rivers, Murphy and Joeckel can play immediately. Whitlow gets to play right away because he dropped a level to the FCS.

Aggies' offseason of discontent

Texas A&M linebacker Darian Claiborne has been helped off the field -- permanently -- thanks to some off-field trouble. (AP Photo/Beth Hall)

Following his team's latest run-in with the law, Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin remarked in part that the players in question "failed to meet high expectations and standards that we have for our football players." It might be time to start reviewing those expectations and standards as they pertain to the type of players that the Aggies are bringing onboard.

True, the Aggies are far from alone when it comes to offseason arrests and many offenses are minor. It is hard to police everybody and prevent everything. However, given that no less than seven players have been arrested since the end of last season, something is amiss and it is not only Sumlin who needs to figure it out. Those above him in the athletic department and university need to step up to the plate, take a break from tabulating how much monetary value Johnny Manziel brought to the program and start fixing something that obviously needs help.

Middle linebacker Darian Claiborne and nose guard Isaiah Golden were dismissed from the team for their most recent arrests, which were not simple cases of "boys will boys" misbehavior. Previous incidents -- they have been arrested a combined five times -- had led to their being suspended from spring drills and things continued to go downhill.

While it is never good to see any athlete throw away an opportunity, it is a more difficult jolt to absorb when dealing with somebody that has shown so much promise early in his career. Claiborne started nine games as a freshman last season and was third on the Aggies with 89 tackles, including seven for loss. His effort earned him SEC all-freshman honors and the sky seemed to be the limit. (Who knows, that reality might have been part of the problem.) Meanwhile, Golden seemed to have much upside in a young defense after making six starts as a freshman last season.

While A&M needs to find some answers off the field, defensive coordinator Mark Snyder suddenly has to plug two holes on a defense that had plenty of them while finishing 110th nationally against the run last season. He certainly has numbers at linebacker, though they need to grow up in a hurry. Like Claiborne, Shaan Washington and John Mastrogiovanni were freshmen who saw plenty of action last season. Mastrogiovanni can play in the middle with Washington and TCU transfer A.J. Hilliard on the outside. True freshman Otaro Alaka will be among other LBs getting a long look come August.

As for a line that would have returned all four starters, Hardreck Walker finished last season right behind Golden on the depth chart. Come fall drills he will have a, pardon the pun, golden opportunity to make a difference up front. An outstanding recruiting haul yielded four freshmen that will arrive in August and a fifth, tackle Zaycoven Henderson, got a head start with a promising spring as an early enrollee.

Have your cake and it eat, too

There are such things as a house divided when it comes to Alabama football allegiance, and not just on the date of the Iron Bowl. The icing on the cake was certainly sweeter for half of a new husband-wife team, who literally made last season's epic encounter between the Tigers and the Tide part of their wedding. At least the groom did not rub it in; the score is tied at 28 with one second remaining.